


All the Time in the World

by zebraljb



Series: Tis the Season [24]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Lazy Mornings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 18:07:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17126210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zebraljb/pseuds/zebraljb
Summary: PROMPT - lazy dayEggsy comes home from a mission fully prepared to pamper Merlin, but his boyfriend has other ideas.





	All the Time in the World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eggsyobsessed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggsyobsessed/gifts).



ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD

Eggsy stumbles into the house at midnight, automatically doing his dance around the foyer to avoid his bag and shoes. To his shock, he doesn’t stumble over his things. He stumbles over his own feet, because the foyer is empty of shoes and bag and extra hoodies. Merlin’s coat is on its hook, and Eggsy’s hook is empty, waiting for him to come home. He tries to remember, but he doesn’t THINK he cleaned up before he left. Which is all wrong…he shouldn’t have had to clean up in the first place. Merlin is constantly on him to pick up his things so they don’t kill themselves coming in the door at midnight. Eggsy practically killed himself coming in the door at midnight, because things were TIDY. The thought embarrasses him. He owes Merlin more than that.

Eggsy heads for the parlor, knowing full well he’d left his favorite coffee mug there four days earlier. The mug is gone, and his favorite cushions are in his their place on the sofa, and his favorite blanket is folded over the back of the sofa itself. He goes into the kitchen and sure enough, there’s his mug, clean and in the drying rack. Remorse surges through him. Sure, he’s been gone on a mission, but Merlin has enough to do dealing with the childish antics of the agents at HQ. He shouldn’t have to deal with the childish laziness of his boyfriend at home. Eggsy’s 46. He knows better. His sweet, brilliant, dead sexy lover shouldn’t have to parent him.

Eggsy looks around, wondering if there’s something he can do to repay Merlin. But the house is spotless. Merlin still works full-time, even at the ripe old age of 71. He shouldn’t have to do this. Eggsy vows that as soon as he wakes up the next morning, he’ll take care of Merlin. But right now, all he can think of is sleep. He tiptoes up the stairs and peeks into the bedroom. He’s a bit worried; if Merlin’s been spending his time tidying the house after full workdays at HQ, he’s probably physically exhausted. But the cane that Merlin only uses on his very bad days is tucked away in the closet, and a pair of running shorts and a vest are neatly folded over a chair. He’s been feeling good, and that makes Eggsy feel good. He quickly washes up and brushes his teeth before changing into sleep shorts and crawling into bed behind his lover’s sleeping form.

“Hello, babe,” he murmurs against the back of Merlin’s head. He presses a few kisses there. “Love you.”

“Love ye, my Eggsy. Welcome home.”

Eggsy falls asleep making a list of all the ways he’s going to repay Merlin.

 

He wakes up swearing. “Fuckin’ hell…nine o’clock?”

“Good morning, my dearest.” Merlin gets up from the chair by the bed where he’s been reading. “I’ll have your breakfast in a moment.”

“Merlin, what tha fuck? Why’d ya let me sleep so long?” Eggsy struggles to sit up . 

“Ye just broke up a child smuggling ring. Ye were stuck on a plane for an extra three hours due to bad weather. Ye got into the house at midnight. I think ye deserved a bit of a lie in.”

“But I was gonna clean fer ya!”

“I beg your pardon?” Merlin looks offended.

“Babe, I seen all ya done fer me. Ya picked up after me all tha time I was gone. It’s time fer me ta pay ya back. Was gonna cook fer ya, cuddle ya, pamper ya.” Eggsy’s furious with himself for sleeping so long.

“Let me tell ye how today is going to go, lad. Ye are nae getting out of that bed except to shower now and relieve yourself when necessary. I am going to bring ye breakfast, and then we are going to fall back asleep together. We will wake up later, watch some television, perhaps, and then I will get lunch together. And then we MIGHT get up and take a hot bath together before sleeping again until dinner.”

“Merlin.” Eggsy stares up at him, trying to read the hazel eyes. They’re as beautiful as they were when he fell in love with him, although now they’re framed by a bit more wrinkles. “I don’t…but ya don’t DO that sorta thing. Dontcha gotta go ta work?”

“Do ye nae want to spend the day with me, lad?” Merlin actually looks heartbroken.

“Are ya fuckin’ kidding? Crawlin’ inta bed with ya an’ not getting out all day? Sounds fucking spectacular to me.” Eggsy beams up at him.

Merlin sits on the edge of the bed. “I know ye were only gone a few days this time, lad, but it felt different. I felt your absence keenly, and I didn’t like that empty feeling. How many times have ye asked me to sit and watch television with ye, or lie in bed “just a moment longer,” and I always find an excuse not to, have work to do, things to finish. I’ll nae be doing that again to ye, lad. Time is precious.” Merlin looks down at his hands, which are starting to curl a bit with arthritis. “I’ll nae be wasting one more moment.”

“Babe.” Tears spring to Eggsy’s eyes and he crawls onto Merlin’s lap. It takes a bit more effort, and things creak a tiny bit now in ways they never did before, but the feeling is all too familiar once Merlin’s arms are wrapped around him. “I never felt dismissed, or pushed away. Yer work is important.”

“My work is my work and it should nae be coming into this house unless it’s an emergency,” Merlin say sternly. “Now get into the shower and I’ll get your breakfast.”

“Hey.” Eggsy gently kisses him. “I love you, babe. So much. And I promise ta do better with my stuff layin’ around. Swear down.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” Merlin smiles and gently tumbles Eggsy onto the bed. “Now into the shower with ye.”

After an immense breakfast with steaming hot coffee and Eggsy’s favorite orange juice, Merlin tucks them both back into bed. Eggsy cuddles close, his face buried in Merlin’s neck. “I missed ya so much, babe. Nights were long, had ta sit on surveillance, ya know. Thought about ya a lot.” 

“I missed ye as well. Our bed is big without ye.”

“Remember the first night I stayed over? I kicked ya so hard ya shoved me outta bed.”

“It was a reflex,” Merlin says defensively, and Eggsy laughs. “Ye sleep like a starfish, cannae lie about that, lad.”

“I do. But ya found a way ta tame me, even when I’m sleepin’.” He inhales. “Tha first time I went on a mission after we got together, I…I took one of yer scarves with me. Tha olive one? I sprayed a bit of yer cologne on it an’ tucked it in my bag.”

“Ye did?” Merlin pulls back to look at him. “That’s…”

“Sappy.”

“I was going to say romantic.” Merlin smiles. “I like knowing that now. I was so afraid at the beginning, leannan. I thought I would easily say or do the wrong thing and lose ye forever. Ye know I am nae very good at romance.”

“You were perfect. Ain’t like yer Harry, babe. Don’t expect moonlight and roses.” Eggsy sighs and rubs his hand up and down Merlin’s chest. “Bet he wouldn’t pick up after me, or spend tha day in bed with me.” 

“He might…he can be quite lazy when he wants to.”

“This ain’t lazy, though. It’s perfect.” They’re quiet for a moment. “Remember that night ya brought me a flower before ya took me ta dinner? Ya told me it wasn’t the manly thing ta do, but ya wanted to see my face when ya gave it to me.”

“And ye dinnae disappoint, lad. Ye got that smile on your face, the one I love. The one where you’re surprised and pleased and embarrassed all at once.”

“No one ever thought ta give me a flower before.” Eggsy blushes again. “I felt…treasured. Like ya was sayin’, “fuck tradition, I want ta give my boy a flower.” Like I mattered that much to you.”

“Aye…because ye did. Ye DO.” Merlin’s hand starts gently running up and down his back and he starts to drift off again. “While ye were gone, lad, I rewrote my will.”

Eggsy is suddenly wide awake. “What? Why?” He sits up. “What’s wrong? What happened? Did ya go to tha doctor or sommat? Tell me, babe.”

“God, Eggsy, no. No!” Merlin tugs him back down. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry to frighten ye like that. Shh, lad, relax.”

Suddenly Eggsy feels like he’s twenty-four again, and Merlin’s soothing him after they thought Harry was dead. He wants to sob with relief. Of course his mind jumped to that place. Merlin is in his seventies, and doesn’t move like he used to. His mind is as quick as ever, but his body is not. “I…I’m sorry. I just…while I was gone, I had a nightmare. I came back…and you left me. For…for good.”

“Nae, dearest. I’m here. I’m nae going anywhere for a long time.” Merlin rocks him a bit. “I just…ye remember that I’d left everything to my niece and her family.”

“Course. As it should be.” Merlin’s niece was the light of his life, although he didn’t get along with her mother, his sister. His niece was a schoolteacher, and her husband a lovely man who worked third shift as a police officer. Eggsy was well off enough with his own income, and he loved Merlin’s niece and her family as if they were blood relations. She never seemed to care that her uncle’s paramour was her own age, and they got along famously.

“Well, I changed that a bit. I set up a fund for them, and money will go in monthly as long as I’m living, but the rest goes to ye. Your name is on this house, of course, but it’s now on the home in Scotland, as well as all my accounts. Everything will go to ye when I’m gone.”

“No.” Eggsy sits up again. “Merlin, ya can’t do that.”

“Oh, but I can, lad, and I did. Ye get all of me, in life and death.”

“Don’t.” Eggsy feels a tear slide down his face. 

“Someday ye will be like me…too old to go in the field anymore. I don’t want you stuck behind a desk to make ends meet…I know how much ye give your mother and sister. They want for nothing, and you’ll make sure it always stays that way. I want to take care of ye. I know we never married…ye said ye didn’t want to and I’ve always been fine with that. But ye know in my heart, you’re my husband. My soulmate.” 

“I love you so fuckin’ much, babe.” Eggsy kisses him and holds him tight.

“And I love ye, Eggsy.” Merlin gives him slow sweet kisses that soon have him purring. “Now, rest. Sleep in my arms, and when ye wake, we’ll have something to eat and slide into that bath.”

“Perfect.” Eggsy sighs. “This really is the perfect day.”


End file.
